Arafat and Abbas by Menachem Klein

Author:Menachem Klein
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2019-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

Incomplete Authoritarianism

Arafat operated a limited set of democratic institutions in the context of the shining 1990s, which were marked by economic and cultural globalisation, democratisation in the former Soviet Union countries and the European Union expanding eastward. Abbas’ authoritarianism is rooted in a different environment. Britain is preparing to exit the European Union and Putin’s Russia has become a key player in a divided Syria. Under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has lost some of its democratic credentials and maintains close relations with the anti-liberal President Trump and his evangelical supporters. Israel has deepened its cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and continues to develop relations with authoritarian and far-right regimes in central and eastern Europe.

However, the PA’s authoritarianism is limited, either because Abbas fears the loss of Western financial and political support, or due to self-imposed restraints based on genuinely subscribing to a few democratic principles.

‘All the information on which I base my analysis,’ Nathan Brown wrote, ‘was freely and openly supplied by West Bank Palestinians who still show a strong diversity in political views. But on top of a general feeling of political alienation, there is clear nervousness that the wrong kind of politics can hurt your career or, in some cases, lead to your arrest.’41

Despite this anxiety, approximately 20,000 protesting teachers marched in February 2016 in Ramallah following a big strike that closed classrooms for a month. In refugee camps autonomous armed groups, including Fatah members, often challenge Abbas’ authority. Anti-Abbas demonstrations and a three-day-long general strike broke out in Nablus in August 2016 as a reaction to Security Forces beating to death Ahmed Halawa, a popular local Fatah strongman, while in custody. Following this, the Authority faced resistance when it attempted to impose its rule on the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.42

In 2017, a group of judges launched a campaign against ‘outside’ attempts to influence their decisions, cut salaries, and ignore their rulings. Judiciary members also openly criticised a bill that would blur the separation of powers by giving the president the authority to appoint the head of the High Judicial Council, the official responsible for overseeing the courts and protecting their independence. In addition, the bill would allow the president to appoint the head of a committee that oversees judges. Alongside these was a provision for judges’ early retirement, thus implyng that judges whose rulings are not to the liking of the executive branch could be surreptitiously removed from office. The High Judicial Council objected the proposed law and, in September 2018, fourteen Supreme Court judges resigned in protest against proposed amendments to that law. Lower court judges, prosecutors, and the Palestinian bar association protested in 2017–18 against other executive branch interventions. Consequently, the government cut salaries of about thirty judges, including senior members of the bench. The district court subsequently ruled, however, that this salary reduction was illegal.43

In June 2018, Palestinian riot police forcefully suppressed protests in Ramallah and Nablus. The protestors demanded that Abbas stop collectively punishing residents of

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